Breeding the older mare

[4horses]

My mare is 16 years old. I have incomplete history as to whether she was bred previously before I bought her.

Her breeding soundness exam went well. Everything looked good, normal cytology and culture. Bred her the first time and she didn’t take. Very minimal fluid noticed the day after breeding, was given some oxytocin and sent on our way.

She is due back in season next week. The vet said I could just take her to the farm with the stallion, and do AI onsite, didn’t seem to think we needed to do more ultrasounds… Just bring her back post breeding. I suggested we ultrasound beforehand as collection fees are more expensive than an ultrasound. What do you think? I would prefer to only pay for one collection.

Keep in mind, this is my first time breeding. I’ve foal watched for a QH farm previously (even had a red bag delivery) but have no real experience with the breeding aspect.

Is a mare more likely to become in foal if you wait later in the breeding season, rather than breeding this early in the season? Mare is under lights. I could wait until her next cycle, don’t really have to breed her this cycle, if it would increase our odds of her becoming pregnant.

Anything else I should ask the vet about? The vet seemed to think everything looked good physically and she simply didn’t take for whatever reason. The mare is coming back in season a bit later then 21 days, as technically she should be going in season already, but it looks like it will be next week.

[Willesdon]

If you trust your vet, follow their advice which, presumably, is based on plenty of practical experience. If you don’t trust your vet, find a new one before you breed your mare.

[NancyM]

Yes, later in the season does tend to make it easier to get them in foal, usually. Mid summer’s longest day and shortest night gives the best photoperiod for successful breeding. Also (and this will ruffle some feathers no doubt), NEVER trust an early ultrasound to detect pregnancy for sure. If the mare has been bred, AI or live cover, ultrasound before 21 days is not nearly as “dependable” as some would have you believe. If the mare has been bred, WAIT for her to come back into heat naturally, if she does. Because if you don’t, you will flush out any embryo that has been missed on those early ultrasounds. Keep in mind that the vet will be paid for more work and no one will ever be the wiser if an embryo is missed. Vets that claim that they don’t miss early embryos are delusional IMO. Trust your mare to let you know if she is agreeable to be bred again in 3 weeks. Teasing the mare accurately and adequately is the key to know how things are going. I’ve experienced so many missed embryos by a wide selection of vets, and not even early ones. I’ve been encouraged to give lutalyse to induce heat to rebreed, and decided NOT to do this, only to have the mare NOT come back into heat, and ultrasound at 30 days, and PRESTO, there’s the embryo. Listen to your mare. If your mare is not in foal, she will come back into heat and can be rebred at that time, and you will only lose a week or so, if an early foal is a necessity for you (breeding for race horse). If an early foal is not a necessity for you, you have plenty of time.

When I hear of breeders ultrasounding at 15 days, not finding a pregnancy, and flushing and short cycling the mare, I think, “There’s a vet with a child going to university”.

If you speak to a human ultrasound technician, you will likely hear that the scans are very open to interpretation, especially with large areas and complex structures. The uterus on mares can be large and folded (especially if she has had a few foals previously). Things are easy to miss. And this is what I have found with ultrasounding mares for pregnancy. An embryo can be missed, especially when it is small and not implanted yet. A second embryo is also easily missed. I think I own the record for equine twins, with ultrasounds from a variety of vets.

Good luck!

[Arelle]

Just to reiterate @Willesdon above; trust your vet or find a new vet.

I feel hateful saying that, and I definitely don’t mean it - but everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. Some vets are really, really great at the reproductive side of things. Some are really, really great at lameness work.

I’m concerned your vet didn’t think you needed to do more ultrasounds. That’s a red flag to me. Usually we ultrasound several times to ensure timing of ordering semen, check ovulation, and then check embryo development.

My advice would be to start trying as soon as you can with an experienced/knowledgeable repro vet. A 16 year old mare is on the higher risk side of things anyway since her maternal age is more advanced than preferred. I have to gently laugh at “I would prefer to only pay for one collection” because, wouldn’t we all?

The earlier you can start with a mare who is actually cycling, the greater your chances of conceiving are - simply because you get more cycles to try. Your odds may be better as far as being fully transitioned later in the season, but most stallions only collect until late June/July so you’re cutting your odds if you start later. I’m trying to pull embryos on two 23 year old mares this year; and luckily I have a reproductive specialist that I’m using. She’s been honest about her findings - we started in early February, ultrasounding every two weeks to check cervical and follicle development and only yesterday was one of the mares sufficiently ready to stay at the clinic and possibly order semen this upcoming week - depending on what her body does in the next 48 hours. She has a 30 mm follicle as of yesterday so fingers crossed.